I'm at a tough spot in life right now. Im 21 and I have a few years left at Penn State and I really don't know what the heck I want to do. Im currently majoring in psychology (don't ask me why) and I HATE it. School is starting to get old (not to mention expensive) and I really wanna find a career I will enjoy so I have more of a goal to work toward. Im taking my next semester off to think things over and plan a little bit / make some money to pay off the S.

I have always LOVED airplanes and flying. A good family friend is a commercial pilot for Continental. He got his flight training in the military and currently flies a 757. He also does some training for the airline on the side. He seems to love his career and makes decent money. Granted he has been flying for a long time so he has senority. I really admire the fact he likes his job and has been successful with it and think his job would be something I could see myself doing.

My real dilemma is how to go about becoming a pilot. I know the military is an option but they only take the best of the best as far as flight school is concerned. Then your committed to the military for like 8 years. But the plus side is being paid while you are training and the military helps with a lot of living expenses. Another option is pay for flight school (Embry Riddle, ect...). But this is expensive and its hard to get flight time from what I hear.

My question to you is how did you go about getting your pilots license (through the military or private flight school) and do you have any recommendations for me? Would you go through it again if you had to do it over? Do you like your job? Any info you could provide would be very helpful. Im not even sure if this career path is a smart one right now considering how bad the economy is and how airlines are in trouble but I still love the idea of flying :-)

Thanks!

 

I'm in the middle of getting a Private License. My Instructor has a BS in Aviation Science and somethinorother.

There is a college in my state that has a program. You graduate with a Commercial license. Get this, to be an Airline Transport Pilot, you need at least 2500 hours of flight time to qualify. That's a LOT of time.

 

I don't have mine, as I'm colorblind and can't pass a critical test in order to get my license (light gun).

But in order to become a pilot these days, you should really have a degree.. in what? Well, that doesn't really matter, but Aeronautical Science is the way to go for sure.

With that said.. you need to get your private pilots' license. From there.. befriend people at your local airfield. Buy them gas, and wash their planes and get them to take you up to gain hours. It costs A LOT of money and time in order to get where you need to go.

After you get your Single engine private, and get hours, you go to instrument rating, then you go to twin engine ratings (turbo prop, jet engine), etc. Then you want to get your instructors rating after a few hundred hours in the air, and the way you do it, is with the money you gain from instructing, pay your way through new ratings.

That's by far the hardest, and most time consuming way to go about it.. but you already being in college it's pretty much the only way to go.

After you gain hours and get all your engine ratings through twin, go in to air cargo and build hours.. after 5-10,000 apply for either comercial, or the real way to go is through something like netjets.

It'd be nice if you could go to Embry-Riddle, it's the ivy league of Aerospace Engineering for pilots. Also look at San Jose State University (California) they have a VERY good Aerospace degree.

Good luck with whatever route you go! I envy you.

 

Thanks for the input! Career choices are such a pain in the a$$...

 

Well not sure about other branches but I would assume you would venture into the AIR FORCE. You will need a degree first to even go to OTS, plus im not sure how hard it is to get into flight school.

 

I was just about to make this same exact thread! I have also been thinking about becoming a pilot. I've read a lot about it on the internet, but would like to hear from an actual person. I would love to do it through the AF, but is it that hard to get in? and does it really take 8 years? I wouldn't want to lose out on seniority years. If anyone has done it through the military please chime in. Thankss

 

I think the Air Force would be ideal, however every branch operates aircraft of some kind. Do all the branches use the same flight school?

Regpaq, I just contacted a few friends of mine who have flight experience to weigh in. I'll PM you with info if I get anything worthwhile.

 

Thanks a lot Jamison1987!!

 

I was an F4C Phantom pilot in the AF. I thought about about becoming a commercial pilot (some of my buddies did), but got my MBA and MS instead. I think AF flight experience will give you the best shot at becoming a commercial pilot . Plus it's a kick in the ass -- the most fun I've had in my life.

 

Phantom?! Sick! Haha that must have been a fu&%in' blast! I think if I could pick however, my interest would be in some sort of support role rather than combat. LoL Im not Ice Man or anything...